I thank you, students of Sao Paulo, for your greeting and for your
generous sympathy.
I am here upon a mission of friendship and of appreciation. I am here in
order that my country may know more of the people of Brazil, and in
order that the people of Brazil may learn more of my country, believing
that the cause of almost all controversy between nations, the most
fertile source of weakness and of war, is national misunderstanding and
the prejudice that comes from misunderstanding.
I shall go back to my country and tell my people that I have found in
this famous city of learning, Sao Paulo, a great body of young men who
are gathering inspiration in the cause of learning and of human rights
from the atmosphere of liberty and independence.
I shall tell them that here, where the independence of Brazil was born,
the spirit of that independence still lives in the youth of Brazil.
I shall tell them that here in the birthplace of presidents more young
Brazilians are treading the first steps in the pathway of patriotism and
greatness, pressing on to take the place, to take up and continue the
great work of the men born in Sao Paulo, who have contributed so
mightily to the greatness of Brazil.
Let me say one word, young gentlemen, as to the lessons that you may
draw from your country's glorious past.
Noble and inspiring as are the victories Brazil has won in war;
remarkable, eloquent, unsurpassed as are the great things done in the
past by the Paulistas, greater and nobler victories of peace await the
people of Brazil and Sao Paulo.
You have, as my country had, a vast continent with savage nature to
subdue. You have, as my country had, with almost immeasurable forests
fit for human habitation, to welcome to your free land the millions of
Europe seeking to escape from hard conditions of grinding poverty. You
have before you that noblest product of our time, that chief result of
our institutions, the open path to progress and success for every youth
of Brazil. Because this is a free land, because you are a republic,
because you are a self-governing people, there is no limit to what each
one of you may accomplish by the exercise of your own knowledge,
determination, and ability. It is the free spirit that keeps open the
door of that limitless expanse, and that will conquer the wilderness and
make Brazil a refuge for the poor of other lands, and a country rich and
teeming with people, prosperous, learned, and happy in the years and
centuries to come.